The Harrier GR5 was not the next mark of the airframe, it was a completely new aircraft.

I pretty sure I saw Phantom F.3 used officially but it was ignored in practice because F-4J(UK) was already in wide use. With the US and UK Rivet Joint aircraft being so intertwined I suspect what ever name the Project Airseeker aircraft were intended to have was quietly forgotten.

Presumably their Airships have a cultural aversion to numbering reused names.
There seems to have been a run on the names of Hawker's Hurricane replacements none of which were II, III etc.

Hawker Tornado - prototype flew but cancelled because RR Vulture scrapped because of the problems in Manchesters (actually worked fine in Tornado)
Hawker Typhoon - the original Tiffy - parallel development to Tornado
Hawker Tempest - ironically briefly Typhoon II

Reused as:
Panavia Tornado
Eurofighter Typhoon
XXXX Tempest

Their Lordships used to have a tendency to have US aircraft with different names e.g Grumman Martlet = Wildcat.

So to avoid confusion over L or L II or F-35B (or even Dave) I suggest in future the UK uses the name of the final descendant of the Hawker Typhoon ...




Lockheed Martin Sea Fury FGR.1 :ok:

It was the British that gave the B24 its name, unlike the B17, where we called it the Fortress, without the Flying in its name.

Not quite. The B-17 was always only the Fortress to the USAAF. The 'Flying' part of the name was never officially recognised.

As for the B-24, the RAF adopted the US name. Under the Air Ministry naming conventions of the time bombers and transports were given names of places in the Empire or, in the case of American aircraft, US place names. Examples include the Lockheed Hudson, Douglas Dakota, Martin Baltimore and Martin Maryland, and the B-24 would have received something similar. None of those aircraft were in US military service or had been given US service names by the time they had been adopted by the RAF. As with the later Martin Marauder, Lockheed Ventura and the North American Mitchell, by the time the Fortress and the Liberator were in RAF service they had already been given names by the USAAF. Catalina and Mustang were originally British names.

The trio of Grumman aircraft, Wildcat, Avenger and Hellcat, were named Martlet, Tarpon and Gannet by the Admiralty. US names were later sensibly adopted to avoid confusion. The Corsair entered service after that date and never had an alternative British name.

I recommend Names With Wings: The Names & Naming Systems Of Aircraft & Engines Flown By The British Armed Forces 1878-1994 by Gordon Wainsborough-White (Airlife 1995) but, then, I am complete anorak on such matters.

Sometimes politics and money comes into play, and I think the second generation Harrier (or Harrier II) was part of that. Yes the Harrier II/GR5/AV8B was largely an entirely new aircraft, but you want the politicians to think you are just buying an upgraded new and improved model. Well proven, nothing to see here....same with the Super Hornet. 737Max anyone?

Conversely sometimes you don't want them thinking your are buying something already obsolete, and with the peace dividend cancellations the B-29D becomes the B-50! F-102B becomes the F-106....

I always hated that name Rivet Joint -when I first heard it I assumed it was some sort of joke. Can anyone tell me the origins or derivation of the name?

RIVET seems to be a project name/codeword associated with electronic reconnaissance variants of the C135. JOINT is part of a series: AMBER, BRASS, CARD, DANDY.....JOINT.
A bit like project Airseeker (a project name), only the name(s) stuck. So we have RIVET JOINT.

Thanks BATCO :ok: